This
site is a work-in-progress. There is a massive amount to cover. I have
included both male and female lines.

Keep
coming back for more.

The
generations are numbered working back from Jack's as (1)

THOMAS
HARRISON and MARY PETYT (7)

THOMAS
HARRISON. We know from his marriage
licence that Thomas was born around 1749-50. The
Skipton register for his children’s baptisms tells us that his father
was John Harrison , late of Manchester, tallow chandler.

There
is a baptism in Manchester on 18 June 1749 for Thomas ,
son of John Harrison and Ann.
We do not know his mother’s maiden name.

Thomas
did not stay in Manchester, nor follow
his father’s occupation. Before he was 23 he had moved to his father’s
birthplace: the rural township of Thorlby, outside Skipton. His grandfather,
a yeoman farmer of Thorlby, had died before Thomas
was born. His uncle, also called Thomas, took over the farm. No baptisms
have been found for this Thomas’s children, nor for children of his
brothers. It appears that the younger Thomas went
to Thorlby to help his grandmother Margaret , née
Oldfield, with the farm in her later years.

Thorlby
was changing. In the mid-18 th century moves were afoot to improve
the road from Keighley to Kendal, which passed through Skipton and
Thorlby. A broadsheet distributed in Settle around 1750 claimed:

"
The Woollen Manufacture has of
late years been carried on and is daily increasing in Craven, for
which it is better situated in every respect (save the scarcity of
Coal) than any other part of the Country. Good Roads wou’d lower the
Price of Coal at least one -
Third, this wou’d be a prodigious
advantage to all the inhabitants, and such an encouragement to that
Branch of Trade as wou’d render it General, by this means the Country
wou’d become Populous and consequently the Value of Land greatly increased
... When the Roads are effectually repaired Goods may be conveyed
from one Place to another in Carriages with less than half the Number
of Horses now employed in carrying Packs and consequently at half
the Expence . "

In
1753 a local act was introduced " for
repairing, amending, and widening the Road from Kieghley, in the West
Riding of the County of York, to Kirkby in Kendal, in the County of
Westmorland . "

The
preamble sets forth that " Whereas
the road leading from the town of Kieghley, in the West Riding of
the County of York, to the town of Skipton, and from thence to the
town of Settle, in the Riding aforesaid, and from Settle aforesaid
to Cowen otherwise Coin Bridge, in the County of Lancaster, and from
thence to Kirkby in Kendal, in the County of Westmoreland, is from
the narrowness thereof in many
places, and the nature of the soil, become very ruinous and in great
decay, and is not only almost impassable for wheel carriages, but
very dangerous for travellers, and is incapable of being repaired
by the ordinary course of law : Therefore, to the intent the said
highways and roads may be forthwith effectually amended, repaired,
and widened, and from time to time hereafter kept in good and sufficient
repair, May it please your Majesty that it may be enacted .
”

This
was to be a turnpike road with gates and toll-houses. The section
from Skipton to Settle was one of the earliest to be built. The turnpike
road converged on the old coaching road on the outskirts of Thorlby
and passed through the hamlet. Bay Horse Farm, once a coaching inn,
stands beside this turnpike road. The gardens in front were then cobbles.
Rings in the house front wall show where the horses were tied.

In
1765, when Thomas was 17 a great storm struck Skipton.
A contemporary newspaper reported:

"
July 26th. — The most terrible
storm of thunder and lightning happened at Skipton-in-Craven that
has ever been known in the memory of the oldest man there. The lightning
struck the church steeple, beat off the weathercock and several of
the pinnacles, and has greatly rent and damaged the whole steeple.
Much about the same time, at a place called Shire Oaks, near Skipton,
a mare and foal were killed, the former of which was divided and torn
by the lightning in an almost incredible manner, being nearly separated
in two parts ."

The
toll road was not the only improvement in travel. In 1770 an act of
Parliament was passed to build the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. The first
section built was that from Bingley to Skipton. Contractors were each
given a one-mile section. This part of the canal was lock-free. It
opened in 1773.

The
Leeds
Intelligencer of 8 April 1773 reported: " On
Thursday last, that part of the Grand Canal from Bingley to Skipton
was opened, and two boats laden with coals arrived at the last mentioned
place, which were sold at half the price they have hitherto given
for that most necessary convenience of life, which is a recent instance,
among other, of the great use of canals in general. On which occasion
the bells were set ringing at Skipton; there were also bonfires, illuminations,
and other demonstrations of jo y
."

As
the canal progressed north to Gargrave, it passed through the township
of Thorlby, half a mile from the hamlet.

The
Leeds-Liverpool Canal at Thorlby

In
Dec of 1775 Thomas’s grandmother Margaret
Harrison died. This was followed just over two years later
by the death of his first wife.

On
10 Jan 1778 Ann W Thos Harrison Farmer Skipton
was buried.

In
1780 Thomas married for the second time.

MARY
PETYT. She was the second daughter
of Anthony Petyt and
Mary Heelis, both of Skipton.
Her father was a yeoman farming at Crookrise, near Thorlby, and Deerstones,
Bolton Abbey, fivemiles west of Skipton.

Baptism.
Holy Trinity, Skipton.

1762
May 7 Mary Dau of Anthony Petyt
Farmer and Mary his wife of Crookerise. Mary
never knew her older sister Margaret, who only lived two months. Three
younger brothers died in infancy. Out of seven children only Mary
, Ann and Elizabeth reached adulthood.

Mary
bore a distinguished Skipton name.
Whenever she visited Holy Trinity church she would have seen a board
listing the terms of Sylvester Petyt’s charity. Her father, Anthony
Petyt , had benefited from this, which provided apprenticeships
for poorer members of the Petyt family. Sylvester Petyt also gave
the Petyt Library to the parish church. His portrait hung in the vestry.

On
18 May 1780 Thomas Harrison farmer and widower married
Mary Petyt spinster. Both were of this parish. Both
signed their names. One of the witnesses was John Heelis. Mary’s
mother was Mary Heelis . There was a considerable
gap in their ages. Thomas was 30 and Mary
18.

At
this early age Mary had three young stepchildren
to look after. These were joined by nine children of her own.

Baptisms.
Holy Trinity, Skipton.

1783
Anthony son of Thomas Harrison of Stirton Grazier
son of John Harrison late of Manchester and Mary
D r of Anthony Pettyt of Crookrise Farmer,
born Mar 23 bapt May 8.

Thomas
is now farming, not at Thorlby, but in the neighbouring township of
Stirton.

The
remaining baptisms give similar information, though the details vary
over time.

1784
Margaret born 31 Aug bapt 17 Oct.

1786
Susanna born 24 Jul bapt 30 Jul.

Entries
from now on add the information that John Harrison
was a Tallow Chandler.

1788
Edward born 21 Jun bapt 29 Aug 4-year-old
Margaret died in on 20 Feb 1789. She was buried on the North side
of the Middle Quarter of the churchyard.

1793
Leah born 4 Feb bapt 6 May. Both
Thomas Harrison and Anthony
Petyt are now said to be Yeomen, and Anthony is of Skipton.

From
now on, Thomas is of Thorlby, having apparently
moved from Stirton. Anthony is once more designated
a Farmer, as he is for the remaining baptisms. 1797
Elizabeth born 12 Dec 1797 bapt 6 Jan 1798

Anthony
Petyt is now “of Skipton formerly
Crookrice” 1800
Sarah 6 th daur of Thomas Harrison of Thorlby. Born
24 May bapt 14 AugAntony
Petty is now of Haylewood, Farmer

The
terms Farmer and Yeoman seem to be used interchangeably, depending
on who is filling in the register. Sometimes Thomas
is termed a Grazier, telling us that he farmed cattle and/or sheep.

Of
their nine children only one seems to have died in infancy. This is
another indication that the Harrisons were a fairly well-to-do family.

The
sons of yeomen were often sent to a grammar school. Skipton had a
free grammar school since the 16 th century. We do not know whether
Thomas sent his sons there. Certainly, his son Edward
had a well-schooled hand.

Mary
died in 1806, six years after the
birth of her last child. She was buried two days later at Skipton
parish church. 1806.
Mary Harrison Wife of Thomas arrison
of Thorlby Grazier. Died July 27 B d 29. A little above the Church
Porch. Age 45. No cause of death is given
.

Thomas
survived her by two years.

Burial.
Holy Trinity, Skipton

1808
Thomas Harrison of Thorlby Grazier. Died Feby 3 B d 5. Little east
of Porch in the Aisle. Age 60. The cause
of death is often given, but not in Thomas’s case, unless he shares
the one below: “Natural Decay”

Thomas’s
entry means that he was buried in
the church. Mary’s indicates that they may have
shared the same grave. ‘Above’ probably means nearer the altar, in
other words ‘east’.

Burial
inside the church usually means that these persons were of some standing.
You had to pay a fee for this privilege. But in Thomas and Mary’s
time this had becomeashionable in Skipton.

In
1853 there was a report on The
Sanitary Condition of Burial Vaults and Graves in the Church.

“Every
available space beneath the flooring of the parish church has been
used for ages as a depository of the dead, and it passes belief how
large a quantity of putrefying matter has in this way been disposed
of. Even now the vaults are in some cases gorged with corruption,
and all along the aisles and in the porch are graves filled with human
remains. In most instances the only partition between the living and
the dead is a single slab of stone and a few inches of earth. These
offered but a very imperfect barrier to the escape of noxious effluvia,
and slowly, therefore, but incessantly, the gaseous products of decomposition
were effused into the atmosphere of the church. But at the night services,
established in 1843, when gas was introduced into the church, when
the air became rarified by the warmth of stoves and burning gas, the
rank vapours were drawn in uncontrollable profusion. It is impossible
to say what mischief was done by this, and how many while worshipping
within the sanctuary, have breathed the atmosphere of corruption,
and have sickened unto death . ”The
bodies were removed and reburied elsewhere, presumably in the churchyard,
and the church was re-flagged. Thomas and Ann’s
memorial stone may still exist.

Flagstones
in Holy Trinity church

Thomas’s
will was proved on 14 May 1808. He
is described as a gentleman of Thorlby, in the parish of Skipton.
This is the first time we find him recorded as a ‘gentleman’.His
estate was valued at £200, one of the lower figures on that page of
the Probate Index, plus £356 in money. All his real estate,
the leases of his farms, the stock upon them, and all his other effects
were to be sold. The principal beneficiary from the proceeds was his
eldest son from his first marriage, Thomas Harrison. Thomas alsoreceived
a bequest of £50.The residue was to be invested in a trust fund for
his remaining 11 children, to be given to them when they reached the
age of 21.

Mary’s
father, Anthony Petyt
outlived them both, living to the great age of 93. He died in 1814.